What do Trump's supporters see in him?

What do Trump’s supporters see in him?

Donald Trump at a rally Friday in Orlando, Fla.

By Lisa Mascaro

March 11, 2016 9:38 AM PT

Donald Trump has attracted voters from all walks of life. But he has done particularly well with high school-educated, middle-class, middle-age white voters.

Here are some snapshots:

Bruce Everitt, 64, retired police officer, Vietnam veteran, at home in Edgefield, S.C.

“You can see our country has definitely gone downhill. I’m sure he’ll be able to get jobs and put people to work and get this country going again.”

Sam Britt, 24, welder, and Courtney Miller, 23, corrections officer, at a Trump event at a gun range in McDonough, Ga.

“Being middle class is the worst to be,” said Miller. “You’re not low enough to get anything, but you’re not high enough to have what you want.”

“You work 40 hours a week and you’re barely scraping by,” said Britt. “He says it how it is. I think he’s going to make America great again.”

Kimberly Dial, employment agency operator who organized an event for Trump supporters at a gun range in McDonough, Ga.

“This is the first time I’ve felt excited about a presidential candidate since Reagan. He speaks his mind. He’s not politically correct ... not worried about who he offends.”

Steve Ramey, 66, tea party leader and Vietnam veteran, at a Starbucks near Lilburn, Ga.

"I think many of us are in mourning. We’re mourning for the country we used to have that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Johnny Runyan, 50, a third-generation woodworker, and his wife, Heather Runyan, 41, a hairstylist, voting in Marietta, Ga.

"We feel the Republican Party is not representing us,” he said. “They’re representing special interests and the fat cats and that’s what we are totally against. We want the Republicans and the Democrats to work together for the good of the country. We feel Donald will take the center.”

Heather added: “It’s so childish. I would like to send a pallet of Pampers to Washington.”

“I’d rather take my chances on something I’m not sure of ... than doing the same thing over and over again,” he said. “We don’t hate anybody. We want to be heard.”

John R. Williams, retired Savannah River nuclear plant worker, Edgefield, S.C.

“He’s the only one who tells the truth.”

Marilynn Whaley, 80, a retired market analyst in Stockbridge, Ga., on Trump’s trash talk.

“Trump can get away with it.”

Nick Stratton, plumbing contractor/designer, Waltersboro, S.C., at a Trump rally.

“I want someone to tick them off. He’s got no reason to go up there and conform. Think of the ego he’s got. His ego is the biggest thing and it’s going to make him a success.”

Wayne Waters, retired butcher, with Joe Cato, a truck driver, on election day in Edgefield, S.C.

“The middle class is working for everything that is paying for everything for free,” said Cato.

“Enough bull, I voted for Trump, too,” Waters said. “He’s going to change things, I hope. The main reason, he’s not a politician.”

What do you think of Donald Trump? Tell us here.

Politics

Lisa Mascaro

Lisa Mascaro previously covered Congress in Washington, D.C., for the Los Angeles Times. She left in February 2018. A Los Angeles-area native, she has reported across Southern California, edited, traveled the States and worked in Texas. While the Washington correspondent for the Las Vegas Sun, she contributed as the paper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. An economics and political science graduate of UC Santa Barbara, she also studied in Budapest, Hungary.

What do Trump’s supporters see in him?

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